Great Gardens: Bill and Esther Burrows' Glenmeadow garden is spot to watch life grow

Photo by Staasi Heropoulos Esther and Bill Burrows sit by the raised garden on the terrace outside their apartment at Glenmeadow retirement community in Longmeadow.

LONGMEADOW - It’s a sad tableau. An elderly person, or several seniors sitting outside, motionless - watching and waiting for something to happen.

“There was a time when people here would all go out front and watch the traffic go by,” says Bill Burrows, a resident at Glenmeadow retirement community in Longmeadow. “They’d just line up and watch the cars. They don’t talk to each other. That’s not gonna happen to us.”

It’s not going to happen because Burrows and his wife, Esther, are growing a raised garden on the terrace just outside their apartment at Glenmeadow. With a mixture of annuals and perennials, the show of color begins in March with a blaze of yellow when the witch hazel tree blossoms in the snow.

“As the garden is changing and evolving, the color is always there,” said Bill Burrows.

The Burrows’ garden has become a main attraction at Glenmeadow. Groups of people congregate at the garden end of the outdoor common area. The Burrows spend much of their time outside with their friends. But often, the couple sits inside their apartment listening through a screen door to the whispered compliments from friends.

“We hear them admiring the garden and that always makes us feel good,” said Esther Burrows.

The garden space wasn’t always an admired centerpiece of the courtyard. Until this year, it was filled with easy-to maintain shrubs and bushes. That’s because the Burrows lived on the second floor, just waiting for their chance to move into a ground level “garden apartment” - the only one in the complex of 150 units.

“I told the manager if it ever becomes available we wanted first choice to move in. I don’t know if anybody else wanted it. We didn’t give them a chance,” said Esther Burrows.

The Burrows’ chance came last February when the apartment became available. The cost of moving was extraordinary: The apartment had to be redone and the couple lost 20 percent of their floor space. They’ve also paid for everything in the garden.

“It was worth every penny because we just love the garden. I’m going to spend my final days in that garden,” said Esther Burrows.

Esther and Bill ran William Burrows Florist for 28 years in Longmeadow. Until they arrived at Glenmeadow, no one was interested in planting a garden. Shrubs and bushes sufficed.

The garden requires a lot of work and the new residents of apartment 112 are happy to take on the job. “It’s a match made in heaven,” said Bill Burrows. “When you know something looks pretty and other people can enjoy it, that’s very pleasing.”

A lifelong resident of Longmeadow, Esther, 87, has difficulty moving around. She can’t do too much work in the garden because it’s several feet off the ground.